PSV failed to reach the group stage of the Champions League. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt did not manage to brush away last week’s 2-1 defeat against Benfica. The Eindhoven team will play in the Europa League this season. This is not only a disappointment from a sporting point of view, but certainly also from a financial point of view.
After last week’s 2-1 defeat in Lisbon, PSV had to win at home. Due to a red card from Lucas Verissimo in the 32nd minute, the home team played with one more man for an hour on Tuesday evening, but PSV nevertheless failed to score. Benfica held up well and thus qualifies for the group stage of the Champions League. PSV has to be satisfied with participating in the second club tournament in Europe. Little consolation is a bonus of five million euros, which will be paid by UEFA to the loser of the play-offs.
General director Toon Gerbrands gave in conversation with the NOS already indicated that it would not be a disaster if PSV were not able to qualify for the Champions League. He didn’t want to call it a game of 35 million. “No, it is a match that is worth much less. We have already qualified for the Europa League. That means the delta is about fifteen million.” PSV’s budget is focused on the Europa League, not on football in the Champions League. The fifteen million that can be counted on in Eindhoven will not be invested in new players. “We have a budget-based policy around the Europa League. We make choices about that, because next year we have to be able to pay it again. In other words, we don’t go further than our pole is long.”
Big differences
The difference in income between the Champions League and Europa League is huge. The prize pool in the second club tournament in Europe has been reduced from 510 to 465 million euros, but the clubs can earn more because the field of participants has been reduced from 48 to 32. All participants in the group stage will receive a starting premium of 3.63 million euros. The tournament also provides PSV with a TV premium of 1 million euros, while the club can expect another 4 to 5 million euros based on the club coefficient. A win in the Europa League yields an amount of 630,000 euros, compared to 570,000 euros last season. A draw is good for a premium of 210,000 euros. When qualifying for the eighth finals, clubs earn 1.1 million euros. The winner of the Europa League earns 8.6 million euros, the losing finalist has to settle for a premium of 4.6 million euros.
PSV could have earned much more in the Champions League. This season, UEFA will distribute a total amount of no less than 2.032 billion euros among the 32 participants. A quarter of that total amount (500 million euros) will be paid out at the start of the tournament. All clubs that have managed to qualify will receive a starting premium of 15.64 million euros. This starting premium is 390,000 euros higher than last season. Where Ajax is allowed to add this amount, PSV has to make do with a starting premium of 3.63 million euros.
Not even 12.5 million
UEFA pays out a total of more than 600 million euros in the Champions League based on the coefficient ranking. The association looks at the European performance of the participating clubs in the past ten years. The higher a club is in this ranking, the more money it receives. The number 32 on the coefficient list will receive 1,137 million euros. Every place that is one club higher yields that amount. PSV would probably have taken 22nd place in qualifying, which would have been good for an amount of 12.507 million euros. The Eindhoven team could have moved up a spot to 21st place (13.644 million) if Shakhtar Donetsk, which defends a 1-0 lead at home, is eliminated by AS Monaco on Wednesday evening.
In comparison: Ajax is the number seventeen of the current field of participants and can therefore count on a premium of 18.192 million euros. An additional 1.137 million can be added if Shakhtar Donetsk does not qualify. Millions can be made in the group stage of the Champions League. A win in the group yields 2.8 million euros, which is 100,000 euros more than last season. A draw is good for 930,000 euros, which is 30,000 euros more than the previous year. UEFA saves 1.87 million euros for each draw. At the end of the group stage, all amounts of the draws are added together and distributed among the participants in proportion to the number of wins in the group stage.
As the Champions League tournament progresses, the premiums get higher. Clubs that qualify for the eighth finals receive a premium of 9.6 million euros. A place in the quarterfinals yields 10.6 million euros. The four clubs that qualify for the semi-finals receive 12.5 million, with a place in the final an additional 15.5 million euros. An additional 20 million euros is available for the winner.
In addition to all the premiums, PSV also misses out on money from the market pool. This is a €300 million pot built up by TV channels that have paid to broadcast the Champions League. How much Ajax, as the only Dutch participant, is left with will only become clear at a later stage. It partly depends on the number of matches that the club plays in the billion-dollar ball. In the 2019/20 season, when Ajax was the only Dutch participant, 1.8 million euros went to the team from Amsterdam.
Last season, Ajax did not raise money from ticket sales, as it had to be played in front of empty stands due to the corona crisis. It is hoped for the Dutch clubs that the stadiums can be completely filled, after all, that will yield millions. When PSV played four Champions League matches for its own audience in the 2018/19 season, the club earned a total of 4.3 million euros.